EIGHT former officials of the Department of Finance – One-Stop-Shop Inter-Agency Tax Credit and Duty Drawback Center (DOF-Center) have failed in their bid for a reversal of the August 11, 2023 decision of the Sandiganbayan convicting them on multiple counts of violation of Section 3 (e) RA 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.
The Sandiganbayan Third Division’s resolution dated February 8, 2024 denied separate motions for reconsideration filed by former DOF-Center acting deputy executive director Raul de Vera; Textile Division reviewer Asuncion Magdaet; tax specialists Mark Binsol, Merose Tordesillas, and Gregoria Cuento; and evaluators Gemma Abara, Cherry Gomez, and Purita Napeñas.
“The Court finds the subject motions for reconsideration …bereft of merit. In sum, the Court maintains its finding that the prosecution has discharged its burden of proving every element of the offense of Violation of Section 3 (e) of R.A. No. 3019,” the court declared.
Presiding Justice Amparo M. Cabotaje-Tang penned the 16-page resolution with Associate Justices Bernelito R. Fernandez and Ronald B. Moreno concurring.
De Vera was found guilty on two counts, Magdaet (24 counts), Tordesillas (four counts), Cuento (two counts), Binsol (one count), Abara (four counts), Gomez (one count), and Napeñas (one count).
They were each sentenced to six to eight years imprisonment per count with perpetual disqualification from holding public office.
Based on the court’s calculations, the 24 cases involved fraudulently issued tax credit certificates totaling P61.508 million.
In convicting the accused, the court noted that the DOF-Center executives failed to exercise even ordinary diligence in evaluating, processing and approving the tax credit certificates (TCCs) issued in favor of applicant firm Scope Industries Inc., a textile manufacturer.
It said the prosecution’s evidence conclusively showed that support documents attached by Scope to its applications were spurious as representatives from K Line and Citadel Shipping denied being the source of the bills of lading.
In his appeal, De Vera argued that the crime was limited to Scope Industries’ submission of spurious and fabricated documents in its applications for TCCs, a matter in which he had no participation.
He said that it was not part of his job to verify the authenticity of the documents submitted as he does not have the skills to tell if documents are falsified.
The other seven defendants also asserted that their duties only involved “check listing and computation of applicable tax credit, based on established procedures they were taught by the Board of Investments.
After revisiting the arguments and the evidence on record, however, the court affirmed its position that all the accused-movants committed gross inexcusable negligence in processing and then issuing the TCCs.
“Reasonable caution and consciousness of the consequences of their actions must always be observed by the employees and officers of the OSS Center whenever they process applications since these tax credits must not be granted to just anyone applying for them. This is imperative to avoid undue damage and prejudice to the government,” the Sandiganbayan stressed.
